The Maiden Voyage of the Destiny Unknown

It is two hundred million years into the future, and Earth is devastated by a dying sun whose expanding photosphere has melted the surface of the planet and driven humans underground. In this world, humankind is doomed to extinction. But Marcus Fincus thinks he can secure the survival of the human species. He selects a small crew of brave voyagers from the insignificant but determined planet Earth to set out in search of a new home.

Description

It is two hundred million years into the future, and Earth is devastated by a dying sun whose expanding photosphere has melted the surface of the planet and driven humans underground. In this world, humankind is doomed to extinction. But Marcus Fincus thinks he can secure the survival of the human species. He selects a small crew of brave voyagers from the insignificant but determined planet Earth to set out in search of a new home.

Their ship, the Destiny Unknown, is designed to take care of everything. Every meal is regulated to the ounce. Every mile is charted and mapped. Everybody has his or her own unique role in this microsociety: doctor, teacher, electrician, engineer. Then the inevitable happens: the passengers start to behave as people. The captain seduces half the women on the ship, his wife develops a neurological disorder, their sixteen-year-old son runs away in the escape pod, and the doctor dies in a freak scalpel accident.

The Maiden Voyage of the Destiny Unknown is a dark parable about the nature of human existence. Told from the perspective of an alien observer who follows our heroes like an unsympathetic reporter from National Geographic—he refuses to intervene when our heroes come face-to-face with deadly meteor showers, alien cannibals, and other crises that threaten to destroy them all. Funny and philosophical in its treatment of human nature, The Maiden Voyage of the Destiny Unknown not only seeks to understand the place of humans in the universe—it also seeks to address the looming question: What makes us so special?

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Nicholas Ponticello is a high school mathematics teacher and STEAM coordinator at Flintridge Preparatory School in Los Angeles, California. Mr. Ponticello graduated from University of California, Berkeley with degrees in mathematics and astrophysics, and is currently completing a sustainability certificate through the UCLA Extension program. He is interested in exploring the intersection of science, sustainability, business, and education, and hopes to encourage more systems thinking and sustainability-themed curricula at the secondary school level.

Mr. Ponticello grew up in Northern California and began his career as the operations manager at KOMENAR Publishing in Oakland, CA. He is a longtime runner, and has coached champion cross-country and track & field teams at the high school level. Mr. Ponticello is also the author of Do Not Resuscitate, a fictional biography that considers transhumanism and the intersection of technology and sustainability. He has studied writing under Kim Krizan (Before Sunrise, Zombie Tales 2061) and Bruce Miller (Eureka, Medium, ER). Do Not Resuscitate received honorable mention at the 2015 Green Book Festival, which spotlights “books that contribute to greater understanding, respect for and positive action on the changing worldwide environment,” and is a semi-finalist in the 2015 Kindle Book Awards for Literary Fiction.

Mr. Ponticello resides in Los Angeles with art historian, Nico Machida, and their five freshwater fish.